Participatory communication for tuberculosis control in prisons in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Paraguay Comunicación participativa para el control de la tuberculosis en cárceles de Bolivia, Ecuador y Paraguay

• Main Author: Silvio Waisbord
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: Pan American Health Organization 2010
• Subjects: Comunicación en salud; poblaciones vulnerables; salud de grupos específicos; tuberculosis; prisiones; Bolivia; Ecuador; Paraguay; Health communication; vulnerable populations; Health of Specific Groups; prisons; Medicine; R; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic; Corto
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/774358b14245415d8607b10b0f8e30c6

OBJECTIVES: To assess the challenges in reducing tuberculosis (TB) in prisons in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Paraguay and propose ways to address them through communication interventions. METHODS: Challenges to two central goals of TB control-early diagnosis of positive cases and successful application of the directly observed treatment, short course (DOTS) strategy-were examined. Data were gathered (through in-depth, structured interviews) and focus groups were conducted in the prisons that housed the largest number of male inmates in each country. Interviewees and focus group participants included program directors, administrative personnel, correctional health and security staff, and incarcerated people who were or had been under treatment for TB and had participated as "peers" in health services. RESULTS: The findings showed a range of entrenched obstacles for adequate TB control. Stigmatizing attitudes and low knowledge about TB among inmates and key prison personnel discouraged people living in prisons from seeking diagnosis and treatment. Systemic problems in prison health services, along with squalid living conditions, lack of coordination between national TB programs and prison health systems, and insufficient allocation of resources to health prevented the provision of adequate TB prevention and care. CONCLUSION: In addressing the barriers to effective TB control in prison systems in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Paraguay, a participatory approach to communication is necessary. OBJETIVOS: Identificar los desafíos para reducir la tuberculosis (TB) en cárceles de Bolivia, Ecuador y Paraguay y recomendar vías para solucionarlos mediante intervenciones informativas. MÉTODOS: Se analizaron las dificultades para alcanzar dos metas centrales del control de la TB: el diagnóstico temprano de los casos positivos y la aplicación exitosa del tratamiento bajo supervisión directa de curso corto. Se obtuvieron datos (mediante entrevistas estructuradas en profundidad) y se convocaron grupos focales en las cárceles con más reclusos ...